Tzitzak
Sign in to saveTzitzak (; died 750), baptised Irene (), was a Khazar princess, the daughter of khagan Bihar, who became empress by marriage to Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine V (r. 741–775).
Key facts
- Royalty.consort
- yes
- Royalty.name
- Tzitzak
- Royalty.succession
- Empress of the Byzantine Empire
- Royalty.reign
- 741–750(with Anna, 741–743)
- Royalty.full name
- Tzitzak (baptismal name Irene)
- Royalty.spouse
- Constantine V
- Royalty.issue
- Leo IV the Khazar
- Royalty.dynasty
- Ashina
- Royalty.father
- Bihar
- Royalty.birth_name
- Tzitzak
- Royalty.birth_date
- 8th century
- Royalty.death_date
- 750
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Number of children
- 1
Show 2 more facts
- date of death
- 0750-00-00
- date of birth
- 0701-01-01
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~3 min read
Article
5 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Life
- Empress
- References
- Bibliography
Tzitzak (; died 750), baptised Irene (), was a Khazar princess, the daughter of khagan Bihar, who became empress by marriage to Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine V (r. 741–775).
==Etymology== According to Gyula Moravcsik, Tzitzak is most likely a Hellenized version of a Turkic word descending from Proto-Turkic * and cognate with Chuvash and Turkish , all meaning 'flower'. However, Marcel Erdal notes that Constantine VII used tzitzak to denote the empress's garment and deems Moravcsik's idea that Tzitzak was her personal name "far-fetched". Therefore, Erdal thinks that tzitzak more likely described the colourfulness of the empress's garment; Erdal additionally reminds readers of Hebrew ṣiṣiṯ 'fringed Jewish ceremonial shawl' and 'fringes'.